> > And we sorta saw a 'normal' transition after the death of an > Emperor(ess). After Tortaalik's death, the Orb did stop and process for > a moment to determine who the next Emperor should be, and settled on > Andron. It was only because Andron happened to be running a spell to > rip the Orb away from the emperor (which became Andron) and give it to > Andron that the transition became something other than normal. But > before the explosive loop occured, we did see the Orb actually decide > who the next Emperor should be. That was Adron's interpretation of the events he went through. Adron is (to say the least) not the most reliable observer on the subject. While he did end up in temporary possession of the Orb, that does not necessarily mean that the Orb was actually "appointing him emperor", especially considering the spell he was performing at the time. If Adron *was* (however briefly) emperor, that would seem to indicate that the Cycle actually went *backwards* during the Disaster, which is quite unprecedented. Of course, so was the entire situation leading up to the Disaster, so one could certainly argue the other way. Alexx Alexx Kay Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers alexx at world.std.com http://world.std.com/~alexx "History is made at night. Character is what you are in the dark." [Doctor Lizardo/John Whorfin in _Buckaroo_Banzai_]